George and Angela Dyczynski walk near wreckage of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, during their visit to the crash site near the village of Hrabove, Grabovo, in Donetsk region on July 26, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

GRABOVE, Ukraine (AFP) - The first relatives of victims on the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived on Saturday at the crash site, as Dutch and Australian forces prepared for possible deployment to secure the location in rebel-held east Ukraine.

A truce has been called in the immediate area around the site by both the Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists, but combat was raging just 60km away, with loud explosions heard at regular intervals in western and northern suburbs of rebel stronghold Donetsk.

Ignoring safety warnings, an Australian couple travelled to the scene of the crash without any escort, saying they were fulfilling a promise to their only child that they would be there.

"She was full of life," said Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski of their 25-year-old daughter Fatima, an aerospace engineering student who died when the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur plane was shot down July 17, killing all 298 people on board.